Society
Government With the advent of Globilization in the first half of the 21st century, national governments became less and less important with international organizations such as the United Nations playing a more prominent role. With increased legislative power and authority, the U.N. was able to enact measures such as the Global Health Care Act and the War on Hunger, as well as carry them out effectively through its various affiliated organizations. All countries are some sort of a democracy, and the predominantly liberal umbrella of the United Nations under which all countries fall has in turn virtually made all countries liberal leaning. The mainly capitalist economy is carefully managed by a thousand strong council of expert economists who are aided by supercomputers, ensuring that the world economy runs smoothly and effectively. As the commodities needed for basic survival such as food, water, and energy are so inexpensive and plenty, even in economic downturn, mass political unrest does not occur. Religious fundamentalism and extremist ideas find it impossible to take root in any significant numbers as people are content and see no reason to disrupt their lives and the lives of others. Human beings have effectively reached a tipping point where it is easier to do the right thing than it is to do the wrong . With the blurring of national boundaries through things such as the Universal Passport that allow unrestricted travel between countires, war between nations has become a thing of the past, and the rare terrorist attack or other violent threat on security is dealt with by the United Forces, a joint military-police force that is small, elite, and efficient. The role of a national government has shifted from worrying about its economy and military to providing basic services such as free education, health care, safety, and most importantly, preserving the country's national identity through the promotion of arts, historical sites, and various forms of the country's culture. 'List of Global Governmental Organizations' *The World Court is an international legislative body that drafts laws and deals with cases involving all of humanity. *The International Space Alliance is a confederation of the world's various space agencies to undertake projects such as the I.N.P. *The International Energy Agency is a global organization responsible for the fair distribution of energy around the world. *The United Forces is a joint military force between all the nations, responsible for dealing with terrorist threats and the occasional Black Market cartel. *The Board for Intercontinental Economic Prosperity is an organization of economists supported by supercomputers to ensure that the world economy continues to prosper and does not head towards danger. Ideologies 'Feminism and Nuism' The feminist transformation was the final stage, according to Nu, of the creation of a planet that is rid of intergender bias. The emancipation of humanity from the traditional masculine dominance would mean that humankind would achieve gender equilibrium and a power balance. Nu, who labeled herself as a neo-Marxist feminist, adapted the Hegelian Marxist model of human progression and applied it to her model of feminism. For specific information on Nuism and feminism, visit the category page. 'Trannihilism' Transcendental nihilism, or sometimes referred to as Trannihilism, is a philosophical and quasi-moral teaching in reaching the ultimate state through nihilist admittance and the loss of pride. Through the loss of pride, it is taught that one could realise the insignificance of the human will in the scale of the universe, which is the supposed grand revelation. Contrary to the traditional pessimistic connotations toward nihilism, trannihilism seeks to retain its teaching of loss of all meaning to transcend human flaws and imperfections. Trannihilism started at the end of the 2020s, and diminished in the 2040s. 'À la mode Confucianism' À la mode Confucianism, as its name suggests, is an updated school of thought derived from traditional Confucianism. Its teachings surrounds the basis of the ancient teachings, however, modifies the feudal influences and elements that are incompatible with contemporary advancements and cultural dispositions. While the original teaching of Confucianism is hierarchical, the new Confucianism puts less emphasis on this aspect, but retains other teachings such as respect. À la mode Confucianism also differs from the original set of teachings in a sense that the idea of female marginalization is abandoned; see "feminism and Nuism" for more information. The origination of À la mode Confucianism was circulated among the high mountains in the southwestern regions of China, around the 2030s, due to the increasing role of quickening globalization that the Asia-Pacific region played. The "Eden Again" Movement The "Eden Again" Movement refers to the popular charity campaign led by a group of utopian billionaires who spend their vast resources on bettering the lives of the greatest amount of people, through projects such as the Great Luxurization, an effort to not only bring inidivudals out of poverty, but into a life of luxury and comfort. Followers of the movement believe that the only way to a society finally at peace with itself is if all its members are at peace with themselves, and want nothing as they have everything. The logic follows that by only caring for oneself, one is indirectly being irresponsible for oneself, as the inital selfishness in not caring for the inequality with one's neighbor will drive one's neighbor to commit acts disrupting society, motivated by negative emotions such as greed and hate. Thus, the initial selfishness results in the inevitable breakdown of society, and the "Eden Again" Movement seeks to stay this and permanently establish a utopia, or Bibilical Eden on Earth once more, where there is no possibility of society breaking down. So far the movement has experienced encouraging success, though gaps in luxury still exist in some parts of the world. 'Green Peace' Green Peace was a radical environmental organization in the 30s and 40s that advocated the use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind over fusion power. Though initially limiting themselves to peaceful demonstration and letter writing, as fusion energy gained the upperhand, they began turning towards more forceful methods, breaking into fusion power plants and smashing up control pannels. They conducted a wide array of clandestine activities, including intimidation and blackmail of key fusion physicists and engineer, as well as building a multi-billion dollar lobby against fusion energy. Green Peace came to a formal end the infamous Pine Oaks Case, in which Green Peace activists sought to demonstrate the potential danger of fusion power plants by driving a truck laden with TNT. The incident instead served to prove the near invincibility of the fusion power plant, which was unharmed other than a small truck sized shadow on one of its cooling towers. Some splinter groups of Green Peace still remain to this day, and are regarded as a terrorist organization by the government. Education 'Accessibility' Modern education is globally accessible to all people. The public school system has evolved and is extremely prestigious. Many parents rather send their children to public schools because they are receiving a great education with minimal or no cost. Nevertheless, there are still many prominent private schools. That offer extra accommodations such as smaller classrooms, better location, more specialized attention and more accessibility to the newest technology. Both school systems offer laptops to each student to be used in synchronization with an individual's contact lenses. The laptop is essentially the students’ base for schoolwork. Textbooks and notebooks are no longer used therefore students depend heavily on their laptops. 'System' The school system within this era has evolved dramatically. With a decrease in transportation cost and an increase on transportation efficiency, school field trips have become more integrated into the curriculum. Trips have particularly become more common in history class as an attempt to further the students’ interest and understanding of the material. For example while learning about Ancient China, it is common to visit the Great Wall of China and other interesting locations within China. 'Curriculum' Another key aspect that contributes to the evolution of the school system would be the International Society for School Administration . This society has created a standard curriculum procedure for all schools around the globe, some people view it as an expansion of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. Every school teaches the same materials and the students are required to perform the same, no matter if the school is private or public. At the end of the students high school education they do not need to pass a standard test, only grades and an interview are essential. The International Society for School Administration has also devised a no homework policy, although on the other hand students must stay in school for an extra hour each day. Sports In the moden era, sports still exist, but at a far higher level of competition and performance than the sports of the early 21st century. Individuals who wish to be athletes choose to be so before they reach adolescence, as they undergo genetic modification, so that their physical capacities are better. As far as particular sports, there have not been many changes, with soccer still dominating as the world's most popular sport, however, modern soccer is far quicker and rougher with hyper accurate passes, super powerful shots and blinding speed by players. In Track & Field, athletes are so incredibly quick and strong that the standard 100 meter race of the 20th and 21st century has been replaced by the 1000m race, with all other distances multiplied by a scale factor of 10. The Black Market In modern society, there exists an international billion dollar industry in the sale of illegal or rare items, many from the pre-Fusion Age. The industry is known as the Black Market, and operates in close concert with the Underground counterculture movement. In the Black Market, an individual can find music from 20th and early 21st century not listened to anymore, as well as traditional clothing, such as t-shirsts and jeans, which are currently not in production anymore. An individual can also find meat derived from real animals, and historical "junk food" such as Hamburgers and Fried Chicken. The Black Market is also a lucrative drug market for now banned Rx prescription drugs such as Tylenol™ and Aspirin™. The I.N.P. The Interplanetary Networking Program was proposed in 2050s and rose to prominence in the 2060s, with the refinement of fusion power, allowing semi-permanent sustainable energy to be generated in large amounts. Over the course of a decade, the Moon Station was built, in preparation for an expedition to Mars, set for 2076. The first Martian expedition ended in a failure, and resulted the loss of the Martian Explorer I and her entire crew. A second Martian expedition in 2079 also ended in a failure, where the spacecraft was caught into the orbit of an unexpected target, XI-66. Anxiety for the launch of the third expedition resulted a hiatus in the program. The third Martian expedition was launched in 2084, where the Martian Explorer III and her crewmember of 21 successfully reached Mars within three weeks of solar sailing, to establish a skeleton construction crew for the planned Martian colony. Since then, there have been a total of five other expeditions to Mars, and as of 2113, the population of the colony is 250, composed of researchers and retired senior citizens. The Underground The Underground has been a cultural movement occurring since around the early 2020s, as a means of social relief and hullabaloo to object against the rapid development of technology in regards to the arts and cultures. The Underground movement fully matured around mid 2050s, with the discovery of fusion nuclear power, leading to added tension, which motivated the development of the Underground. 'Origin' The Underground movement, founded by social rebel Al Lasovskaya in 2021, gained initial popularity through the Internet. Al Lasovskaya was a college dropout and claimed to believe in the ideology of nihilism and chaos theory of explanations. He believed that pessimism is what motivates “the creation of culture and expressivity”, and that optimism is for “idealists and those who rely on ignorance and conformity”. He then continues and claims that one can truly live a fulfilling life if one is willing to take a balance approach between the two and not be one-sided in their beliefs and lifestyle. 'Nature' The nature of the Underground movement itself is overall a peaceful objection and self-inflicted collective marginalization of the Underground group. The continual appraisal of traditional art forms and music genres is widely encouraged among the Underground community, contrasting to the general interest in technologically aided art and music of abstract properties of the rest of the world. Please refer to music and art section for more information.